African Ceremonial Regalia [19th cent.] (Public Domain Image)

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort

by Richard Edward Dennett,

[1898]

Richard Edward Dennett was an English trader who worked out of what is today the Republic of the Congo in West Africa. He wrote extensively on the anthropology of the West Africans, including this book which recounts the folklore, particularly as it pertains to animals, of the region. This is a key source for West African folklore and story telling.

Title Page
Preface.
Contents
Introduction
I. The Folklore Of The Fjort.
II. How A Native Story Is Told.
III. How The Wives Restored Their Husband To Life.
IV. How Nsassi (Gazelle) Got Married.
V. The Vanishing Wife.
VI. Another Vanishing Wife.
VII. The Jealous Wife.
VIII. Ngomba's Balloon.
IX. The Wicked Husband.
X. The Wonderful Child.
XI. How Kengi Lost Her Child.
XII. The Twin Brothers.
XIII. The Younger Brother Who Knew More Than The Elder.
XIV. The Chimpanzee And Gorilla.
XV. The Antelope And The Leopard.
XVI. How The Spider Won And Lost Nzambi's Daughter.
XVII. The Turtle And The Man.
XVIII. Killing A Leopard.
XIX. The Gazelle And The Leopard.
XX. The Wild Cat And The Gazelle.
XXI. The Crafty Woman Overreaches Herself.
XXII. How The Fetish Sunga Punished My Great-Uncle's Twin Brother, Basa.
XXIII. The Rabbit And The Antelope.
XXIV. The Fight Between The Two Fetishes, Lifuma And Chimpukela.
XXV. The Fetish Of Chilunga.
XXVI. The Leopard And The Crocodile.
XXVII. Why Some Men Are White And Others Black.
XXVIII. The Bird-Messengers.
XXIX. Nzambi Mpungu's Ambassador.
XXX. Why The Crocodile Does Not Eat The Hen.
XXXI. The Three Brothers.
XXXII. Death And Burial Of The Fjort.
APPENDIX I: Nzambi.
About Nzambi.
Nzambi's Daughter And Her Slave.
Nkissism.
Nkissinsi.
Palavers.
The Story Of A Partnership.
The Danger In Words.
Appendix II: Fjort Songs.
The Song Of Life.
Song Of The Burial Of The Fjort Prince.
The Song Of The Snake.
The Song Of Loango Women.
The Song Of Hunger.